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School of Marketing & International Business

IBUS 309 ST: NEGOTIATING ACROSS BORDERS

Trimester 2, 2014

COURSE OUTLINE

Names and Contact Details

Course Coordinator: Dr. Cheryl Rivers Telephone: (04) 463 6917

Rutherford House, RH 1119

Email: cheryl.rivers@vuw.ac.nz

Office Hours: Tuesday 1.00pm – 2:00pm

Course Administrator: Rebekah Sage Telephone: (04) 463 5723

Rutherford House, RH 1121

Email: rebekah.sage@vuw.ac.nz

Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00am – 4:30pm

Trimester Dates

Monday 14th

July to Tuesday 14th

October

Withdrawal from Course

1. Your fees will be refunded if you withdraw from this course on or before Friday 25th

July

2014.

2. The standard last date for withdrawal from this course is Friday 26th

September. After this

date, students forced to withdraw by circumstances beyond their control must apply for

permission on an „Application for Associate Dean’s Permission to Withdraw Late’ including

supporting documentation. The application form is available from either of the Faculty‟s

Student Customer Service Desks.

Class Times and Room Numbers

Lectures/Workshop: Tuesday 3.40pm – 5.30pm

Government Buildings, GB LT3

There will be 7 sessions when the workshop extends to 6.30pm

between weeks 2-11

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Course Delivery

The aim of this course is to allow you to develop professional skills of negotiation. The emphasis

in this course is experiential learning which means you will do an exercise in the class and then we

discuss the exercise and make the links to theoretical frameworks. This experiential process gives

you a chance to reflect on and learn from what you have done. To engage in this type of learning,

you have to be in the class. Even with the best intentions, you cannot do the exercises on your own

and you cannot reflect on or discuss an experience you haven‟t had. This approach to learning

cannot succeed without your active participation. Success in this course requires you to make a

commitment to attend classes (all of them!), to read and think carefully, to prepare adequately and

to stretch yourself.

Negotiation simulations are a significant learning tool in the course and students will be given

confidential role notes to prepare for negotiations. The aim of a simulation is both to maximise

your gain from the negotiation and to learn as much as you can from doing the exercise. Because

any self-respecting negotiator will use all available information, it is contingent on you to maintain

confidentiality of role notes you are given. If role notes are left lying around or open on top of your

notebooks, then you can expect that your enterprising classmates may well read them. Your

opportunity to participate in a negotiation simulation will be forfeited if role notes are left lying

around. Also, you will forfeit your entitlement to participate if you are not in class to collect role

notes when they are handed out.

Your participation in the simulations (after thorough preparation!) will directly influence both your

own grade and the learning experience of your classmates. If you don‟t prepare adequately for a

negotiation, not only do you miss out on the learning contained within the simulation (and so are

unable to write in your reflective journal), the classmate who has been allocated to be your

counterpart will also miss out on the experiential component of the course and will have more of a

challenge writing their reflective journal.

Your professional reputation and integrity as a negotiator will be formed during the course. Just

like the workplace, it will be how you behave, communicate and your appearance that will

influence your classmates and me as we form an opinion about whether you are worthy of our

respect as a negotiator. It wouldn't be appropriate to suggest guidelines about your appearance –

though don‟t underestimate the power of looking and smelling nice in a negotiation. However, it is

appropriate to ask that you show me and your classmates respect by always turning off your mobile

phone during class, tutorials and in my office. As one of my esteemed colleagues at Otago

University (Associate Professor Ian McAndrew) has noted: “research at a leading university

confirms that texting during class is practiced only by the desperately dateless. And that is not a

look or reputation you want or have, or that you want me to point out to others. Almost nothing

you need to know happens outside of the classroom during the 3 hours we spend together.”

Expected Workload

In addition to classroom hours (lectures and tutorials) you should expect to spend about 10 hours

per week on independent or group exercises/preparation for the course.

Attendance at classes (including tutorials): 2-3 hours per week

Reading and reviewing: 4-5 hours per week

Meeting with colleagues outside of class: 2-3 hours per week

Individual assignment: 2-3 hours per week

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Prescription

Negotiation theory and cultural value theories provide the theoretical framework in this course.

Experiential learning of negotiation practices and cross-cultural adaptation are used to develop

skills for international business negotiations.

Course Learning Objectives

Students who pass this course should be able to:

1. Analyse negotiations by applying an understanding of the negotiation process and

negotiation theory.

2. Apply the main theories of culture to analyse how culture influences the negotiation process

and perceptions of issues.

3. Practice more effective negotiation by creating negotiation plans; selecting the appropriate

strategy; analysing the needs/ interests of the negotiating parties, maximising leverage

through use of appropriate tactics; and analysing the macro and micro negotiation

environment.

4. Demonstrate and explain how negotiation reputation is established.

Course Content

Negotiation theory and cultural value theories provide the theoretical framework in this course.

Experiential learning of negotiation practices and cross-cultural adaptation is used to develop skills

for international business negotiations.

Details of the topics covered in the course appear below.

Week Time Session Topic

1

(15 Jul) 2 hours

Introduction to negotiation. Overview of how course works.

The final 20 minutes will be dedicated to students writing their reflecting journal

about what they learned and how they might apply in future negotiations.

2

(22 Jul) 3 hours

Prisoner’s dilemma simulation

Types of negotiation – how to tell the difference

Exercise - Your negotiating style (questionnaire)

Preparing for Distributive negotiations: BATNAs, range setting

Role notes for a next week‟s simulation will be distributed.

3

(29 Jul) 3 hours

Negotiation simulation

Students to submit their planning notes as part of their log book (on-going

assessment) Completion of feedback forms. Give feedback.

Students to submit feedback forms as part of their log book (on-going

assessment).

Integrative Negotiation Planning: needs analysis; obtaining information from

the other side

Exercises on how to obtain information

4

(5 Aug)

3 hours

Assessment Item 1, Negotiation Simulation prepared and conducted in class

today.

Partners for Assessment Item 1 allocated

Role notes handed out

Students have one hour to prepare negotiation plan that must be submitted for

Assessment Item 1

Students will negotiate with their counterpart for 45 minutes.

Debrief of negotiation done in lecture.

Completion of feedback forms. Give feedback.

Feedback forms submitted for Assessment Item 1.

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5

(12 Aug)

3 hours

Introduction of real-world negotiation – Assessment Item 2 (due Week 8)

Summary of last week‟s negotiation

Types of Issues

Discussion of negotiation analysis due in Week 6.

Tactics in negotiation: recognising tactics, responding.

Ethically ambiguous tactics, Tactic use in negotiation exercise

6

(19 Aug)

2 hours

Students to submit Analysis part of Assessment Item 1, Negotiation Simulation

in lecture and via Turnitin.

Culture in Cross-Border Negotiations – hard-core theory!

Forces that influence cross-border negotiations (exercises)

The influence of culture on process and issues

o Process- Phases of Negotiation

Schwartz cultural value survey / Understanding cultural values / introduction

to theorists

Hofstede Individualism Versus Collectivism

o In-groups & Out-groups; Relationship versus deal focus

Discussion of real-world negotiation, approval of topics and guided planning for it.

Mid-trimester Break

7

(9 Sep)

2 hours

Culture in Cross-Border Negotiations – hard-core theory continued

Edward Hall‟s High/Low Context

View of time

Status differences across cultures / Face

Proxemics and non-verbal communication in negotiation

Analysis of cross-cultural negotiation problems

8

(16 Sep)

3 hours

Students to submit write-up and analysis of real-world negotiation in class today

and via Turnitin.

Planning for Cross-cultural Negotiation

Impact of cultural values on issues

Impact of cultural values on process

Exercises on planning for cross-cultural negotiation submitted on departure for

inclusion in log book Guest speaker on negotiating in an overseas market

Students will be given cross-cultural negotiation simulation role notes to plan for next

week.

9

(23 Sep)

3 hours

In-class negotiation simulation

Debrief

Intergroup Negotiations

Culture and teamwork

Negotiation dynamics in teams

Students will be given role notes and teams for team negotiation next week. Students

allocated to (different) teams (culturally mixed if possible) for a team-on-team

negotiation next week.

10

(30 Sep)

3 hours

Students must prepare in their teams and come to class ready to commence the

negotiation.

Fish bowl class negotiation – final meeting, allocation of negotiation order.

Negotiation simulation

Debrief of negotiation. Improving team dynamics

11

(7 Oct) 2 hours

Students to submit their essay on culture and negotiation in class today and via

Turnitin.

Guest speaker on international negotiation

12

(14 Oct) 2 hours

Students to submit final overview for their log book.

Overview of course

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Readings

Readings will be provided to students (as references or papers on Blackboard).

Materials and Equipment

The Course Coordinator will suggested additional sources of information to help you research your

assignments.

Assessment

From Trimester 1, 2014, a revised Assessment Handbook will apply to all VUW courses: see

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/documents/policy/staff-policy/assessment-handbook.pdf.

In particular, there will be a new grade scheme, in which the A+ range will be 90-100% and 50-

54% will be a C-.

All the assessments in this course are internal. There is no final examination in the course.

Assessment

Learning

Objectives

Addressed

Weight Due Date

1 Planning, analysis and feedback of

negotiation simulation

1,000 – 1,500 words 1, 3, 4 10%

Negotiation done in Week 4 lecture and

tutorial. Analysis due Week 6 at start of

class & via Turnitin (11.30pm Tuesday

19th

August).

2 Write up of real world negotiation

2,000 – 2,500 words 1, 3, 4 25%

Week 8 in lecture & via Turnitin

(11.30pm Tuesday 16th

September)

3 Essay about influence of culture on

negotiation

2,500 – 3,500 words

1, 2 30% Week 11 in lecture & via Turnitin

(11.30pm Tuesday, 7th

October.)

4 Reflective log book and reputation

Various exercises

2,500-3,000 words

1, 2, 3, 4 35%

On-going weekly.

Summary reflection due Week 12 in

lecture

Further information on these assignments will be provided on Blackboard

Penalties

Late assignment submissions will be penalised at -10 marks (out of 100) per day or part thereof

(timed from the beginning of the lecture when submissions are due).

Extensions will be granted only in exceptional circumstances (such as bereavement of a very close

relative, serious illness, etc.) after consideration by the Course Coordinator where documentation is

provided and the extension is agreed ahead of submission. It is incumbent on students to manage

their time and workload in order to deliver all work in a timely fashion. Please treat all assignments

like participation in a multi-million dollar negotiation for your workplace – if your reason would

not be appropriate for your boss in such a circumstance, then don‟t expect me to grant you an

extension.

Use of Turnitin

Student work provided for assessment in this course may be checked for academic integrity by the

electronic search engine http://www.turnitin.com. Turnitin is an on-line plagiarism prevention tool

which compares submitted work with a very large database of existing material. At the discretion of

the Head of School, handwritten work may be copy-typed by the School and submitted to Turnitin.

A copy of submitted materials will be retained on behalf of the University for detection of future

plagiarism, but access to the full text of submissions will not be made available to any other party.

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Mandatory Course Requirements

Students must receive no less than 40% on any assessment item in addition to achieving the pass

grade.

If you cannot complete an assignment or sit a test or examination, refer to

www.victoria.ac.nz/home/study/exams-and-assessments/aegrotat

Class Representative

A class representative will be elected in the first class, and that person‟s name and contact details

made available to VUWSA, the course coordinator and the class. The class representative provides

a communication channel to liaise with the course coordinator on behalf of students.

Communication of Additional Information

Additional information will be communicated via Blackboard and students should go to the

Blackboard page at least once each week.

Student feedback

Student feedback on University courses may be found at

www.cad.vuw.ac.nz/feedback/feedback_display.php

Link to general information

For general information about course-related matters, go to

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vbs/studenthelp/general-course-information

Note to Students

Your assessed work may also be used for quality assurance purposes, such as to assess the level of

achievement of learning objectives as required for accreditation and academic audit. The findings

may be used to inform changes aimed at improving the quality of VBS programmes. All material

used for such processes will be treated as confidential, and the outcome will not affect your grade

for the course.

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